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The surnames Darby and Derbyshire have multiple lineages and origins:
Darby or Derby
This surname existed across Britain in the 19th century. It is thought to have several different etymologies:
- Gaelic Ó or Mac (son of) Diarmada
- Gaelic Ó Duibhdhiormaigh
- Old Norse Djúr-býr (deer settlement), often as a shortening of the later English place name Derbyshire
The surname Darby is known to be present in the Y-DNA haplogroups R-M269 (especially subclades with strong connections to Ireland and Scotland) and I-M253 (which has Germanic origins).
Derbyshire or Darbyshire
Within Britain in the 19th century, this surname was only common in Lancashire and nearby counties.
Most people with the surname Derbyshire are named after the West Derbyshire Hundred in Lancashire. This area was named after its judicial centre West Derby which probably started as a Viking settlement and is now a suburb of Liverpool. Derby comes from Old Norse Djúr-býr, meaning “deer farm/settlement”. By 1086, Derby had risen to prominence as a legal and administrative centre and a castle had been built. West was added by 1177 to distinguish from the town of the same name in county Derbyshire.
The surname Derbyshire is known to be present in I-M253. Some American Derbies in I-M253 are related to British Derbyshires and appear to have lost the -shire suffix around the time of their migration to America.